EXCURSIONS

EXCURSIONS

Little Paris - All Highlights of Bucharest (full day tour)

On this full day tour of Bucharest we will visit the city's most important monuments. Pick up from your location in Bucharest and start to explore the capital of Romania.
The history of BUCHAREST covers the time from the early settlements on the locality's territory (and that of the surrounding area in Ilfov County) until its modern existence as a city, capital of Wallachia, and present-day capital of Romania. In ancient times, much of the territory of Bucharest and Ilfov was covered by the thick forests of Codrii Vlasiei.The forested area, especially the Colentina and Dambovita valleys, were home to small, scattered settlements as early as the Paleolithic; during the Neolithic, Bucharest saw the presence of the Glina Culture, and, before the 19th BC was included in areas of the Gumelnita Culture. During the Bronze Age, a third phase of the Glina culture (centered on pastoral ism, partly superimposed on the Gumelnita Culture) and, later, on the TEI Culture, evolved on Bucharest soil. During the Iron Age, the area was inhabited by a population identified with the Getae and the Dacians, who spoke an Indo - European language. The view that the two groups were the same is disputed, while the culture's latter phase can be attributed to the Dacians; small Dacian settlements such as Herastrau, Damaroaia, Pantelimon and Popesti Leordeni were found around Bucharest. Bucharest was never under Roman rule, with an exception during Muntenia's brief conquest by the Emperor Constantine I in the 330s; coins from the times of Constantine, Valens and Valentinian I were revealed at various sites in and around Bucharest. The elaborate architecture and the city's status as cosmopolitan cultural center won Bucharest the nickname of: Paris of the East (or Little Paris).
We’ll start our visit at the Village Museum, lying in a specific Romanian setting, on the Herastrau lake shore in Bucharest; one of the biggest and the oldest outdoors museum in Europe. Its exhibits genuine monuments including houses, pens, churches, water and wind mills, cloth mills, of great historic and artistic value - acquaint the visitors in two hours with the specific of the Romanian village. The objects inside the households - carpets, pottery, rugs, icons, furniture - point to the originality of the folk creation, the sensibility and care for the beauty of the rural people.
Then we will take a panoramic tour with stops at the most important sites and areas from the city such as: the Triumphal Arch, Victory Square, Magheru Avenue (commercial street), Royal Palace (nowadays hosts the National Art Museum - optional visit), Romanian Athenaeum, Revolution Square, Calea Victoriei Avenue, Unirii Square, Palace of the Parliament, a Giant built during the golden age of the dictatorial regime and born in the mind of a man for whom the notion of ~ reasonable size ~ did not exist. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the building in second place according to its 330,000 sqm. Surface that is Second after the Pentagon building and in third place according to its 2,550,000 cubic meters as volume. Visit this impressive building ~ the Palace of the Parliament ~ is a MUST SEE
Near the Parliament Palace is the “Mitropoliei” Hill where we can visit the Mitropoliei Church, the Seat of the Orthodox Romanian Church. From Mitropoliei (Metropolitan) Hill a short walking towards the Old Princely Court. The first local place of residence was built during the rule of Vlad the Impaler in the 15th century and after that, Radu cel Frumos moved the princely residence and the Wallachain capital to Bucharest. In the 16th century Mircea Ciobanul rebuilt it completely and afterward it became the nucleus of Bucharest, being surrounded by the houses of traders and craftsmen. From here we’ll continue our visit in the Old District for a walking tour: Lipscani Street, Stavropoleos church, Capsa Hotel, Manuc Inn, and more.
The best way to end the day is with a dinner in a character restaurant such as: “Carul cu bere” restaurant, Restaurant Voievodal